King's Game (Fem Protag Version)
by guillotineghost
Summary: A retelling of the King's Game with an unnamed, silent female protagonist, with opportunity to have an intimate moment with Yosuke, Kanji, Teddie, or Naoto. She has four possible orders to give her subjects-choose at the end of the first chapter! Special thanks to cassius for beta reading for me!
1. Chapter 1

It would have been easy to assume that she'd played this game before.  
>City girls had a reputation for being naturally street-savvy and knowledgeable of the more frisky side of parties.<br>But whether or not she had experience with alcohol, the protagonist looked just as confused as her teammates when Rise openly declared that they were to play the King's Game right there in the nightclub she'd smuggled them into.  
>They were supposed to be questioning Naoto, and maybe the strategy at first had been to ease up the detectives with a few drinks. She couldn't exactly recall now.<br>The alcohol was hitting her more quickly than she'd anticipated.

"You alright there, senpai?" Kanji was beside her, noting that she'd begun to sway.

Despite that she'd apparently looked all too intoxicated, the protagonist gave a firm (and rather wobbly) nod.  
>She couldn't be passing out now or getting sick. Not in front of Naoto. That boy could hold valuable information regarding the murder case, and no way could she afford to make an impression of poor morality.<br>But maybe coming here to begin with had been the idea.  
>…Whose idea had this been, anyway?<p>

"Alright, it's time to deci—" Rise hiccupped and snorted into her hand.  
>Oh, right. It was Rise's idea, deciding that the entire group would play as she was ranting about her producers and their treating her like a kid.<br>"—Time to decide who the king is gonna be! Now, we just gotta draw these sticks, see? The marked one is the king! And then we _have_ to follow his orders, no matter what!"

The game seemed simple enough, as Yukiko had explained it.  
>The players draw chopsticks, one of which is marked with a crown and the rest are numbered. The person who draws the crown is the king and they issue an order to a certain number.<br>But who had drawn what number remained a mystery until the royal decree was made law.

Even with her brain pulsing against her skull and the room spinning around and gravity trying to shove her to the floor like a nerd into a gym locker.  
>She could do this.<br>They'd play the game, loosen up the detective prince, and then scavenge his vulnerable brain about the case.  
>By now, even he had to be somewhat buzzed, right?<p>

The protagonist inwardly groaned upon looking to the other side of the room where Naoto Shirogane was seated.  
>He hadn't touched his drink.<br>Figured.

"C'mon, partner, pick one!" Yosuke called to her.

The rest of them were standing up, save for Naoto, who remained cross armed with an unamused look on his face.

The protagonist stood—almost too quickly, and there was gravity, bullying her again and throwing neon colored dots in her eyes—and balanced herself as neatly as she could.

As the contestants lined up, the protagonist noticed that Naoto hadn't budged from his chair. He didn't look pleased at all.  
>In her impaired judgment, she thought that maybe the boy was feeling left out?<p>

x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x  
>PLAYER CHOICE<p>

[You should join us.]  
>Are you uncomfortable?<br>x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x

"Very well, but I'm not doing anything outrageous. Just be warned." Naoto's bitter expression didn't falter, but he rose up and placed a finger on his stick of choice.

Rise giggled with anticipation; she really was excited to be playing this, wasn't she? "Alright, everyone, on the count of three…"

"One…"

She had to decide very carefully which stick she would choose from the two that weren't already claimed.

"Two…"

On a whim, she took the one further away from her.

"Three!"

Everyone drew back their chopsticks with hopeful expressions; one by one, they frowned at realizing that they weren't king (save for Yukiko, who couldn't stop smiling), and upon inspecting her own, the protagonist realized that she'd drawn the lucky crown!

"No way, you actually won?" Chie sounded a little surprised, and Yukiko doubled over in a fit of laughter.

"Sh-she totally did!" Yukiko was on her knees know, fists pounding the floor in a frenzy as she wheezed. "The boys are—the boys are totally gonna hafta do what she says! This is too rich! Revenge is so sweet!"

"Uh…Yukiko…" Chie cautiously put a hand to her friend's shoulder, while the rest of the party looked on awkwardly.

A girl being the king in the King's Game wasn't _that_ funny, was it?

Suddenly, Yukiko silenced. "…I don't feel too well…"

Chie quickly lifted an arm under the other girl's shoulder and helped her to her feet. "C'mon, let's get you to the bathroom…i-if you're sick like that."

The two girls took their leave, and Rise drunkenly clapped her hands together like a circus seal. "Whoo-whee, we haven't even started yet and two contestants have dropped out!"

"Well, I say, since apparently this is about 'revenge' on us guys," Yosuke felt the need to add. "That the orders be humiliating."

"Like using us as a footrest for the remainder of the night?" Naoto sounded coy now. Was he into that kind of thing?

"No way!" Rise stomped her foot impatiently. "These games are supposed to be steamy!"

"Steam…" Kanji groaned, rubbing his neck uncomfortably.

Teddie piped in. "I think it'd be appropriate if they have to give her a kiss!"

"Hey!" Kanji didn't like that idea. "Don't tell her what to do or try to make her feel weird—this game is already awkward enough!"

"Or would Kanji-kun rather deliver a smooch to a boy king?" Teddie wondered aloud, drawing out his words with childish delight at the growing anger on the other's face.

They continued to bicker.

Yosuke looked to the protagonist and gave her a confident, albeit slightly intoxicated smile. "Well, partner, you're the leader and the king now, so your word is law…"

"Yeah, senpai!" Rise chirped. "So, tell us your order!"

The protagonist closed her eyes and deliberated for a few seconds.  
>No matter what she chose, this was bound to escalate and no one was going to be leaving the club unscathed…<p>

x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x  
>PLAYER CHOICE (choose via chapter index!)<p>

#1 kisses me  
>#2 hugs me<br>#3 gives me a piggyback ride  
>#4 lets me sit on their lap<br>x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x


	2. 1 kisses me

x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x  
>PLAYER CHOICE<br>[#1 kisses me]  
>#2 hugs me<br>#3 gives me a piggyback ride  
>#4 lets me sit on their lap<br>x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x

Yosuke jolted backwards. "Wh-what?! No way!"  
>There was #1.<p>

Rise cupped a hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter and plopped back onto the couch.

"Well, you are the one that said the king's word is law!" Kanji sounded amused as he reclaimed his seating, as well, next to a disappointed, slouched over Teddie.  
>Naoto looked unmoved as always as he made his way back to his chair.<p>

Their eyes were glued to the two individuals that remained standing.

Yosuke looked perplexed as he stared over at the protagonist.

She blinked, almost able to feel the alcohol in her blood concentrating into a warm gush overtaking her chest.  
>It didn't help that she was still dizzy, too.<p>

"You can't back out of this, senpai!" Rise egged them on.

"Alright, alright! I'm going to!" Yosuke snapped back at her, cheeks red now. "J-Just give me a second here…" He turned away from her, as if to prepare himself to deliver some sort of dire news.

"Could it be that Yosuke has never kissed anyone before?" Teddie never filtered himself.

"Yeah!" Kanji had to agree with the bear for once. "Senpai is always talking about how much he loves girls! So I wanna see some proof!"

Yosuke turned back around, arms crossed. "I'm doing it, I'm doing it! Just be quiet!"

They silenced themselves almost instantaneously; this had to be the quickest they'd ever listened to him.

Yosuke took a deep breath and glanced back over to the protagonist, approaching her with a heavy heart. He was clearly less drunk than she was, but it was easy to tell that he was struggling to dig through his thoughts.

She didn't look away from him as he stood before her, face still blushing from probably both the alcohol and the situation at hand. He didn't say anything for a few long, agonizing seconds.  
>He suddenly grinned and winked at her, wiping away all pretenses of apprehension. "Just remember, partner. You asked for this."<p>

He wrapped both arms around her waist, pulled her into him (she'd never noticed how warm he was before), and pressed his lips to hers.  
>She stood on her toes to meet his kiss, closing her eyes, her skin tingling at the sensation of his tongue sliding between her teeth. Her arms were uncomfortably pressed against him, but she couldn't find the willpower to try to move them around his neck.<p>

His lips were surprisingly soft, and despite never having any luck with the girls at school, he was good at this.  
>It was almost romantic, with how his hot breath enveloped her mouth between mixing saliva. There was a little more of that than she would have liked—but they were intoxicated and it couldn't be helped.<br>She wasn't even sure that she would remember this.

"Way to go, senpai! Get it, girl!" Rise cheered, fist pumping. "Get it!"

As if they'd forgotten that other people were in the room, the kiss abruptly ended there when Rise's voice pulled them back into reality.

Yosuke let her go and turned to their audience. "Happy now?"  
>To the protagonist's surprise, he didn't sound angry. It was more…disappointed?<br>Was he sad that their drunken kiss was over?

Kanji's jaw had dropped. "Wow, senpai…I didn't actually think that you had it in you."

"I want him to teach me how to kiss like that!" Teddie shot up from his seat and darted towards Yosuke, only for the older boy to press a hand to his forehead and push him away.

"Hell no!" He laughed and smiled back over to the protagonist, who couldn't help but notice that her face felt like an iron had been pressed to both cheeks. "That's a special trick of mine, and it's reserved especially for the leader. Isn't that right?"

Before the protagonist could scavenge a response, Yukiko and Chie returned, the former looking as inebriated as ever.

"My turn now, my turn now!" Yukiko called, waving her hand joyfully as her friend guided her back to the couch.

Yosuke frowned. "We haven't even drawn chopsticks for the next game yet!"

Yukiko groaned. "Fiiine! Then…someone has to say something really embarrassing that they've done! How about…"

The protagonist and Yosuke parted ways, returning to their original seating, avoiding eye contact for the rest of this exceptionally long, mortifying night.


	3. 2 hugs me

x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x  
>PLAYER CHOICE<br>#1 kisses me  
>[#2 hugs me]<br>#3 gives me a piggyback ride  
>#4 lets me sit on their lap<br>x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x

Teddie instantaneously jumped to his feet, shouting in victory. "That's me! This lucky bear right here! You picked me, sensei!" He turned to the protagonist with a grin stretched across his face.

"Could it be…" His eylids lowered, and he attempted to smooth his voice. "That this is destiny? Fate! Bringing the sensei and student together on a strobe lighted night such as this?"

Kanji rolled his eyes. "Well, get on with it, Ted!"

"Yeah, go on, so we can get to the next round!" Yosuke prodded him on.

"I'm happy for you, Teddie!" Rise smiled. "You finally get to be a hot stud!"

Teddie placed both hands on his hips. "That's right! Now, sensei, let's get to smooching!"

"She said to hug her," Yosuke reminded him.

"I know—but hugging is just first base." Teddie reasoned.

The awkward air in the room thickened. The protagonist stood up, holding her arms out, inviting the small boy to fulfill her order.

Teddy strode to her, prideful, and locked his arms around her waist with a content sigh. His head was perfectly aligned with her chest.

"This…this must be heaven!" He decided, pressing his cheek into her chest and resting his cranium there as if her breasts were a pillow. "Sensei is so soft! So…comforting. I could fall asleep like this!"

The protagonist, with a straight face as ever, reach up to pet his head consolingly. His light hair was soft between her fingers. This wasn't too weird, right? Teddie had never gotten to be this close to a person before—boy or girl—and his lack of physical affection made this less awkward for her and more of a chance to show him some positive touch.

"This is a really long hug," Kanji pointed out after a good two minutes of Teddie remaining stationary in her embrace.

"Yeah, people are starting to stare!" Yosuke agreed.

"This is embarrassing to watch," was the only comment Naoto gave.

"You guys, let Teddie have his—" Rise hiccupped. "Let him have his moment here! This could be the closest he ever gets to a girl!"

Teddie took offense to that statement, but didn't remove himself. "I'll have you known that after this stunning performance, my charm will increase! And soon the ladies will be begging me to hug them!"

"Okay, Ted, sure. But we need to move on with the game." Yosuke didn't sound any less annoyed.

Teddie pulled away, sadly, and looked up at the protagonist with stars in his eyes. "Thank you, Sensei! This was a spiritual experience!"

He took her hand, gently and gave her a kiss just below her wrist. "Until we meet again, my fair maiden!"  
>Had he gotten that line from a movie?<p>

The rest of the game's participants exchanged confused glances that were mixed with what had to be secondhand embarrassment as the king reclaimed her seating and Teddie made his way back over to the couch next to Kanji.

The bear was practically glowing, beaming with a sense of endearing pride. His night was clearly made.

Before the party could resume their game and draw sticks for a second king, Yukiko and Chie returned, the former looking as inebriated as ever.

"My turn now, my turn now!" Yukiko called, waving her hand joyfully as her friend guided her back to the couch.

Yosuke frowned. "We haven't even drawn chopsticks for the next game yet!"

Yukiko groaned. "Fiiine! Then…someone has to say something really embarrassing that they've done! How about…"

Teddie gave the protagonist hopeful, affectionate looks for the rest of the night.


	4. 3 gives me a piggyback ride

x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x  
>PLAYER CHOICE<br>#1 kisses me  
>#2 hugs me<br>[#3 gives me a piggyback ride]  
>#4 lets me sit on their lap<br>x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x

Kanji nearly jumped back in his seat. "Seriously?!"

Rise clapped joyfully and laughed. "It's youuuu, Kanji?"

Kanji's face immediately turned red and he stared down at the floor hesitantly.

Teddie pat him on the shoulder. "C'mon, Kanji! This is your chance! Show sensei your strength!"

"My strength?" He echoed. "Yeah." He pumped confidence into his voice and stood up. "Yeah! I'm plenty strong enough to carry a girl on my back for miles!"

Yosuke shifted in his seat. "You don't have to go that far…"

"Well, just get on with it." Naoto clearly wasn't enjoying this game, and he watched the scene before him with judgmental but observant eyes. Like a babysitter.

"I'm doing it, I'm doing it." Kanji approached the protagonist. "So, uh…" His voice deflated as he motioned to the couch. "Stand up here and then climb onto my back."

Teddie was in awe. "Kanji is really going to do it! He's going to hold a girl on his back!"

"Of course I am!" He retorted. "Why wouldn't I?! I'm a man, aren't I?! …c'mon, senpai, "

She nodded and shakily drew her legs up to the couch, then shakily stood up, steadying herself on Kanji's shoulders.

"Get it, senpai!" Rise cheered. "Go ahead and hop on his back!"

The protagonist gently jumped onto his back, and he handled he recoil surprisingly well, keeping his feet steadied and immediately her legs and holding them under his arms.

She looked her arms around his neck and sighed contently. She could feel that Kanji had no trouble holding her up like this, and his body was surprisingly sturdy. He smelled nice, too, almost like…sweets? She wondered to herself if he used some kind of sugar scented cologne.  
>But asking in front of an audience would have only embarrassed him.<p>

"He actually did it!" Yosuke seemed bewildered. "He has a girl on his back!"

Kanji beamed. "Damned straight I do!"

"That's our Kanji!" Rise chirped, having never doubted him.

Teddie was fascinated, hopping up from his seat and directing both firsts to the roof. "Kanji! I want to go next!"

"No way! I'm not your horse! Besides, you're a guy. That'd be weird…" Despite saying that, he didn't sound completely opposed to the idea.

"I knew you were strong, Kanji, but no wonder those biker gangs didn't stand a chance." Yosuke crossed his arms and sat back with a sigh.

"You say that like you've never seen me beat something to death with a chair," Kanji rolled his eyes.

Naoto gave him a bewildered look.

"N-Nothing human, I mean!" Kanji quickly spat out, trying to recover from nearly speaking of shadows. "Or animals! I'd never hurt a cute little animal—or even an ugly or annoying one, just look at Teddie!"

"Stop talking!" Yosuke quickly turned to Naoto. "He's—he's just drunk!"

"Yeah, I'm plastered!"

Naoto frowned. "Then maybe you should put her down before you drunkenly drop her or fall over."

Kanji blushed in embarrassment, having almost forgotten about the girl on his back. "Okay…"

He leaned downwards and cautiously released her legs so that she stood back on the couch. She unhooked her arms from his neck and plopped back down to her seating.

Kanji turned around and shyly smiled. "That was fun, senpai…you know you can always count on me to carry you if you're hurt or anything, right?"

She nodded.

Kanji resumed his seating by Teddie and sighed. For just a few minutes, it seemed that sapped a surprisingly amount of his energy.

Before Naoto could question the party's odd behavior and wording and before Rise could initiate a second round, Yukiko and Chie returned, the former looking as inebriated as ever.

"My turn now, my turn now!" Yukiko called, waving her hand joyfully as her friend guided her back to the couch.

Yosuke frowned. "We haven't even drawn chopsticks for the next game yet!"

Yukiko groaned. "Fiiine! Then…someone has to say something really embarrassing that they've done! How about…"

For the rest of the night, Kanji couldn't look at the protagonist.


	5. 4 lets me sit on their lap

x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x  
>PLAYER CHOICE<br>#1 kisses me  
>#2 hugs me<br>#3 gives me a piggyback ride  
>[#4 lets me sit on their lap]<br>x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x

"Well…who is it?" Rise grew impatient when silence filled the room upon the king's order.

Yosuke shook his head. "It isn't me."

"Me, either." Kanji sighed.

Teddie's disappointed whimper sufficed a reply.

"Well, it isn't me, so…" Rise turned to Naoto and grinned devilishly. "Was it you, Naoto-kun?"

Naoto adjusted his hat. "Yes."

"Woohoo!" Rise stood up and cheered, despite the other boys' obvious displeasure. "Looks like our newcomer is going to get some love from our leader! Come on, senpai!"

The protagonist stood up and approached Naoto across the room with a shy smile.

Naoto hesitated, flustered frown overtaking his face. "Fine, but…only for a few minutes, alright?"

"Ohhh, Naoto-kun is shy!" Rise observed. "You've never had a girlfriend before?"

"No."

Rise visibly gasped, clearly shocked that boy as soft and handsome as Naoto had never been romantically involved.

The protagonist sat atop Naoto's lap, facing away from him, the prince detective's posture stiff as a board.

Kanji couldn't bring himself to look at the scene, Teddie was mesmerized, Yosuke looked annoyed, and Rise was simmering in the intimate interaction.

"You're…surprisingly heavier than you look," Naoto observed, pink creeping onto his cheeks. "Not that it's a bad thing. You've probably built a decent amount of muscle, is what I mean."  
>Naoto wasn't built exceptionally muscular, but his lap was warm and his calm demeanor in this situation was…admirable.<br>When the protagonist steadied herself on the couch, Naoto cautious placed a hand to her shoulder to help her balance.

"Well, that's because sensei is the strongest!" Teddie chirped, then sighed dreamily. "Sensei is the best!"

"Senpai just runs a lot, right?" Kanji was careful with his wording, given that he couldn't just explain that all of them received a decent amount of physical exercise from fighting monsters in a world hidden behind a television.

"She doesn't look like she'd weigh anything, though." Yosuke observed aloud.

"Like weight is the most important part of a girl!" Rise scoffed.

"Easy, easy, he didn't mean it like that…" Kanji tried to mediate, but his voice lowered mid sentence.

"So anyway, Naoto-kun," Rise attempted to change the subject, not wanting to ruin her buzz with talks of women and weight—she probably had heard enough of that in her line of work. "Why haven't you ever had a girlfriend?"

Naoto pulled his hat over his eyes shyly. "I've never seen the need for one. I'm not opposed to having a romantic partner, but I don't believe the amount of time and attention I could give them would suffice for a relationship."

"I see…" Rise took another drink her clear cup and slurred. "I can—I can understand that. It's kinda like that being a model, too. Always doing stuff. It gets lonely sometimes…" She sighed.

"Rise-chan! You know that this bear is always willing to cuddle with you!" Teddie piped up, and Rise glanced away from him hurriedly.

Naoto chuckled, clearly amused by either the antics of the investigation team or by some expertise of the subject himself. "Well, this has been nice. But please get up now. My legs are starting to fall asleep…"

The protagonist nodded and, pushing herself off the couch, stood back to her feet and made her way over to her original seating.

"Okay, next round!" Rise declared, hopping to her feet and clapping as if she were an elementary school teacher trying to gather the attention of her students.

Before they could initiate the next round of this long night, Yukiko and Chie returned, the former looking as inebriated as ever.

"My turn now, my turn now!" Yukiko called, waving her hand joyfully as her friend guided her back to the couch.

Yosuke frowned. "We haven't even drawn chopsticks for the next game yet!"

Yukiko groaned. "Fiiine! Then…someone has to say something really embarrassing that they've done! How about…"

For the rest of the night, Naoto couldn't so much as glance at the protagonist without his cheeks turning pink.


End file.
